Influence of erbium on structural, and charged particles, photons, and neutrons shielding properties of Ba_1–xEr_xSnO₃ perovskite ceramics

Five perovskite ceramics samples of Ba_1–xEr_xSnO₃ with x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 were synthesized using the conventional solid-state reaction method. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The shielding properties against ionizing radiation were also investigated. The XRD analysis shows the perovskite cubic structure as the major phase in all samples. The FTIR reveals a distinctive band around 614–620 cm⁻¹ ascribed to the antisymmetric O–Sn–O vibration. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to determine the bandgap according to diffuse reflectance, and the results display a fixed enhancement in the bandgap from 3.2 to 3.3 eV for all samples. Gamma-ray shielding properties of the synthesized samples were experimentally measured and compared with XCOM computational results. The relative differences (Δ,%) between experimental and theoretical values are low and fall within the 0.446%–7.10% range. The addition of Er leads to the enhanced density, neutron, and gamma shielding features. In contrast, charged particles' shielding parameters gradually reduce with rising Er contents. These results suggest that Ba_1–xEr_xSnO₃ samples can be used in different radiation shielding applications.